Author Topic: Despite Good Intentions, a Fresco in Spain Is Ruined  (Read 3491 times)

hubag bohol

  • AMBASSADOR
  • THE SOURCE
  • *****
  • Posts: 89964
  • "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool...
    • View Profile
Despite Good Intentions, a Fresco in Spain Is Ruined
« on: August 29, 2012, 10:31:48 PM »


The three versions of the “ecce homo” fresco of Jesus. From left, the original version by Elías García Martínez, a 19th-century painter; a deteriorated version of the fresco; the restored version by Cecilia Giménez.


By RAPHAEL MINDER
Published: August 23, 2012


MADRID — A case of suspected vandalism in a church in a northeastern village in Spain has turned out to be probably the worst art restoration project of all time.

An elderly woman stepped forward this week to claim responsibility for disfiguring a century-old “ecce homo” fresco of Jesus crowned with thorns, in Santuario de la Misericordia, a Roman Catholic church in Borja, near the city of Zaragoza.

Ecce homo, or behold the man, refers to an artistic motif that depicts Jesus, usually bound and with a crown of thorns, right before his crucifixion.

The woman, Cecilia Giménez, who is in her 80s, said on Spanish national television that she had tried to restore the fresco, which she called her favorite local representation of Jesus, because she was upset that parts of it had flaked off due to moisture on the church’s walls.

The authorities in Borja said they had suspected vandalism at first, but then determined that the shocking alterations had been made by an elderly parishioner. The authorities said she had acted on her own.

But Ms. Giménez later defended herself, saying she could not understand the uproar because she had worked in broad daylight and had tried to salvage the fresco with the approval of the local clergy. “The priest knew it,” she told Spanish television. “I’ve never tried to do anything hidden.”

Ms. Giménez said she had worked on the fresco using a 10-year-old picture of it, but she eventually left Jesus with a half-beard and, some say, a monkeylike appearance. The fresco’s botched restoration came to light this month when descendants of the 19th-century artist, Elías García Martínez, proposed making a donation toward its upkeep. -- http://www.nytimes.com/

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=54299.0
...than to speak out and remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

unionbank online loan application low interest, credit card, easy and fast approval

hubag bohol

  • AMBASSADOR
  • THE SOURCE
  • *****
  • Posts: 89964
  • "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool...
    • View Profile
...than to speak out and remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

islander

  • SUPREME COURT
  • THE LEGEND
  • *****
  • Posts: 46867
  • If you're from Pluto, you're welcome.
    • View Profile
    • Book Your Travel Tickets
Re: Despite Good Intentions, a Fresco in Spain Is Ruined
« Reply #2 on: August 31, 2012, 08:23:55 PM »
'Fresco Jesus' Attracts Hundreds of Visitors

The botched restoration attempt of a 102-year old church painting of Jesus in a Spanish town has become a tourist sensation.

It's been dubbed the "world's worst restoration", but a 102-year-old church painting of Christ that now resembles a pale monkey is drawing visitors by the hundreds to a sleepy Spanish town.

The northeastern town of Borja garnered global press attention after residents decried the well-meaning restoration efforts of Cecilia Gimenez, described as being in her 80s, who made a horribly botched attempt to restore a flaking oil painting of Christ wearing the crown of thorns.

The "restored" painting looks like a pale monkey's face surrounded by fur, with misshapen eyes and nose, and a crooked smudge for a mouth. Some media have called it the worst restoration in history.


monopol-magazin.de

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=54299.0
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

unionbank online loan application low interest, credit card, easy and fast approval

islander

  • SUPREME COURT
  • THE LEGEND
  • *****
  • Posts: 46867
  • If you're from Pluto, you're welcome.
    • View Profile
    • Book Your Travel Tickets
Re: Despite Good Intentions, a Fresco in Spain Is Ruined
« Reply #3 on: August 31, 2012, 08:24:57 PM »
On Saturday, hundreds of curious visitors queued up outside the Iglesia del Santuario de Misericordia church, where the image is painted on a column.

"The previous painting was also very pretty, but I really like this one," a woman who had traveled to the town said on public television.

Titled "Ecce Homo" (Behold the Man), the original was painted in 1910 by an artist called Elias Garcia Martinez.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=54299.0
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

islander

  • SUPREME COURT
  • THE LEGEND
  • *****
  • Posts: 46867
  • If you're from Pluto, you're welcome.
    • View Profile
    • Book Your Travel Tickets
Re: Despite Good Intentions, a Fresco in Spain Is Ruined
« Reply #4 on: August 31, 2012, 08:26:34 PM »
Almost 18,000 people have now signed an online petition to halt the town's plan to return the painting to its pre-restoration glory.

The social web has also reacted to the botched restoration.  A Twitter account known as @FrescoJesus -- described as "Once a handsome fresco now a hedgehog" -- has appeared online, kick-starting a meme with the tweet: "MY FACE!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FACE!!!!!!"

http://news.discovery.com/

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=54299.0
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

islander

  • SUPREME COURT
  • THE LEGEND
  • *****
  • Posts: 46867
  • If you're from Pluto, you're welcome.
    • View Profile
    • Book Your Travel Tickets
Re: Despite Good Intentions, a Fresco in Spain Is Ruined
« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2012, 08:34:09 PM »
the best of the memes (some, among hundreds):





weknowmemes.com/

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=54299.0
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

islander

  • SUPREME COURT
  • THE LEGEND
  • *****
  • Posts: 46867
  • If you're from Pluto, you're welcome.
    • View Profile
    • Book Your Travel Tickets
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

unionbank online loan application low interest, credit card, easy and fast approval

islander

  • SUPREME COURT
  • THE LEGEND
  • *****
  • Posts: 46867
  • If you're from Pluto, you're welcome.
    • View Profile
    • Book Your Travel Tickets
Disfigured Spain fresco rides global fame
« Reply #7 on: September 22, 2012, 08:05:16 PM »
Disfigured Spain fresco rides global fame

September 22, 2012
(philstar.com)

MADRID (AP) — The image appears on T-shirts and cellphone covers, coffee mugs and wine labels. And the 80-year-old pensioner who just weeks ago was mortified by the global stir she created with her botched restoration of a fresco of Christ is now looking to get a piece of the action.

The church painting in the town of Borja was for decades a little-known piece of religious art by a minor Spanish artist. Now that Cecilia Gimenez has disfigured it, it has found a new fate as an international icon — used to sell products around the world.

Gimenez's lawyers have begun investigating whether all the notoriety may be turned to profit, albeit with an aim to help charity.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=54299.0
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

islander

  • SUPREME COURT
  • THE LEGEND
  • *****
  • Posts: 46867
  • If you're from Pluto, you're welcome.
    • View Profile
    • Book Your Travel Tickets
Re: Despite Good Intentions, a Fresco in Spain Is Ruined
« Reply #8 on: September 22, 2012, 08:20:23 PM »


The fresco depicts Christ with a crown of thorns before crucifixion, in a style known as "Ecce Homo" (Behold the Man). It stood in peaceful obscurity in the Misericordia Church sanctuary since it was painted in 1930 — until Gimenez, a longtime devotee of the work, decided it needed to be rescued from flaking caused by the damp church air.

Word of the artistic travesty spread across the world, and the solemn Ecce Homo quickly took on a less dignified identity: "Ecce Mono." Behold the Monkey.

Then something unexpected happened.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=54299.0
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

islander

  • SUPREME COURT
  • THE LEGEND
  • *****
  • Posts: 46867
  • If you're from Pluto, you're welcome.
    • View Profile
    • Book Your Travel Tickets
Re: Despite Good Intentions, a Fresco in Spain Is Ruined
« Reply #9 on: September 22, 2012, 08:25:03 PM »
The town morphed into a tourism destination for people who want to see the restoration. The crush has been so big that the Sancti Spiritus foundation that owns the church and sanctuary recently started charging admission: one euro per visitor. Meanwhile, Internet entrepreneurs have quickly moved in to cash in on the phenomenon, printing "Ecce Mono" on a seemingly endless range of products to sell online.

Gimenez's lawyers say she has no interest in a cut of what the foundation is charging people to see the fresco. But they are investigating possible copyright infringements of what she created. If she has rights, said lawyer Antonio Val Carreras Rivera, Gimenez could pursue payments from those using the image to sell products, although whatever she earns would go to charity.

She's most interested in funding groups that help people with congenital muscular dystrophy, because she has a son with the disorder.



Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=54299.0
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

unionbank online loan application low interest, credit card, easy and fast approval

islander

  • SUPREME COURT
  • THE LEGEND
  • *****
  • Posts: 46867
  • If you're from Pluto, you're welcome.
    • View Profile
    • Book Your Travel Tickets
Re: Despite Good Intentions, a Fresco in Spain Is Ruined
« Reply #10 on: September 22, 2012, 08:26:41 PM »
The Sancti Spiritus foundation is stuck in its own legal bind about what to do with the fresco. Should it restore the painting to its original state? Or leave Gimenez's image on the church wall? Or try, as experts say is possible, to separate the two?

Gimenez herself is thankful for the many messages of support she's received from around the world, her lawyers said in a statement. And she "regrets and deplores that commercial brands are financially exploiting a situation that began in total good faith, and which should be restricted to the human level beyond business or commercial interests," the statement said.

The nonprofit Sancti Spiritus foundation plans to seek a second opinion from art experts on what to do about the painting, before getting the view of lawyers, said foundation president Francisco Miguel Arilla, who is also the mayor of Borja, population about 5,000.

"Everyone wants to solve this, but no one knows the solution," Arilla said.



Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=54299.0
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

islander

  • SUPREME COURT
  • THE LEGEND
  • *****
  • Posts: 46867
  • If you're from Pluto, you're welcome.
    • View Profile
    • Book Your Travel Tickets
Re: Despite Good Intentions, a Fresco in Spain Is Ruined
« Reply #11 on: September 22, 2012, 08:27:51 PM »
While Gimenez could end up with ownership of what she painted on top of the fresco, the foundation isn't sure who owns the original. It's either the foundation or the 16 grandchildren of the painter, Elias Garcia Martinez. And Martinez's heirs live all across Spain, Arilla said. "This seems like it's going to be a long process," he said.

Meanwhile, Borja is trying to cope with its newfound fame. While known for its wine, this is the first time it's ever been a big tourism draw.

The influx of visitors hasn't shown any sign of letting up since news of the fresco rocketed around the world, Arilla said. About 1,000 people paid admission last weekend, and the number of visitors has averaged 100 daily this week. The charge was put in place to cover the cost of additional workers needed at the sanctuary to manage the crowds.

"I thought this would slow down by now, but we still have a steady flow of people," Arilla said.

http://www.philstar.com/

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=54299.0
Republic Act 8485 (Animal Welfare Act of 1998, Philippines), as amended and strengthened by House  Bill 6893 of 2013--- violation means a maximum of P250,000 fine with a corresponding three-year jail term and a minimum of P30,000 fine and six months imprisonment

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

hubag bohol

  • AMBASSADOR
  • THE SOURCE
  • *****
  • Posts: 89964
  • "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool...
    • View Profile
By Ron Recinto | The Sideshow – 18 hrs ago



A costume dubbed 'Ruined Spanish Fresco Monkey Jesus' debuted at Anime Weekend Atlanta last month. (Reddit)


In what could be called a Halloween costume work of art, "Ruined Spanish Fresco Monkey Jesus" is buzzing as one of this year's top getups.

Inspired by the gaffe of an elderly woman who failed to restore a 19th-century painting of the face of Jesus called "Ecce Homo," Reddit user Spinjump crafted his masterpiece, which he debuted at Anime Weekend Atlanta.

The creative mask captured perfectly the tilted and blurred face of the restored work, which some have renamed "Monkey Jesus." The costume's face even diminishes the nose and mouth of Christ, as in the botched restoration.

Images of the Halloween guise are making their way through the Internet today with the headline "2012 hot Halloween costume." On Twitter, some of the myriad of comments include:

•"Put away your Avengers outfits and Honey Boo Boo costumes. Best Halloween fancy dress this year, hands down." — Ryan Nelson, @RyanJohnNelson

•"Excellent Restored Jesus Fresco Costume Game over. Can't top this. I'm going as a ghost." — princess stomper, @princessstomper

•"The Hottest Halloween Costume for this year is clearly 'Monkey Jesus'. Though Steve Job's Ghost is still in the top 10." — Ryan G. Poirier, @RGPphotog

The failed restoration has caused a spike in visits to the church. So much so that the artist who blurred the face of Christ wants royalties.

She may not get any money, but she might get some satisfaction from knowing her handiwork has inspired a top costume.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=54299.0
...than to speak out and remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln

Book your travel tickets anywhere in the world, go to www.12go.co

unionbank online loan application low interest, credit card, easy and fast approval

Tags: